Rosh Chodesh Sivan

Occasionally, I find myself looking at my horoscope, Gemini, and wondering if it will come true, or give me a clue about how I should act, and what I should do? I’m not sure I truly believe in horoscopes, but I am fascinated with the idea that the concept of the Zodiac goes all the way back to the beginning of Creation and is discussed by our Jewish sages, especially, the Mystics.

In Sefer Yitzirah (5:1), we learn that there are 12 simple Hebrew letters that are enumerated. “These twelve letters, God designed, formed, combined, weighed, and changed, and created with them the twelve divisions of the heavens (namely, the zodiacal constellations), the twelve months of the year, and the twelve important organs of the frame of the human, namely the right and left hands, the right and left feet, the two kidneys, the liver, the gall, the spleen, the intestines, the gullet, and the stomach.” The Zodiac is related to the year and our vital organs. Additionally, the Zohar connects the signs of the Zodiac to the Twelve tribes (Zohar 173a).

The Moon is crucial in Jewish tradition. It lets us know when a month begins, and accordingly, when holidays will be celebrated. The new moon on June 7th brings in Rosh Chodesh Sivan, the first day of the Hebrew month of Sivan. This new month is auspicious. According to the Torah, on the third full moon after the Israelites left Egypt, they entered the wilderness of Sinai, camped there, and Moses went up to God (Exodus 19:1). Rosh Chodesh Sivan ushers in a period of preparation, of Holiness, as it is during this month that God gave Moses the Ten Commandments.
Remember how I doubted the power of my horoscope? Maybe there is something to it. Gemini, the third sign of the Zodiac corresponds to Sivan, the third month of the Hebrew calendar; the month in which we need to prepare for a relationship to God. In this case, my sign does give me direction about how to act.

Does your sign do the same? To answer that, think about your Zodiacal sign, figure out which Hebrew month it corresponds to, and look at that month and all that it holds. What are the lessons you can take from the time in which you were born?   

*The Zohar is the primary text of Kabbalah, and shares the teachings of Shimon Bar Yochai and his students.
*Sefer Yitzirah is an ancient mystical work that describes God’s creation of the universe.